Zhu Zhu Pets safe, US government says

Mr. Squiggles, one of the popular Zhu Zhu Pets, was cleared by the Consumer Product Safey Commission late Monday, which said it did not exceed levels for acceptable metal content. The consumer group GoodGuide, which first raised concerns, issued a correction and said it regretted its error.

The popular Zhu Zhu Pet got the all-clear from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission late Monday, which confirmed that metal levels in the robotic hamster were compliant with government safety standards. "The popular Zhu Zhu toy is not out of compliance with the antimony or other heavy-metal limits of the new US mandatory toy standard," the agency said in a statement.

Mr. Squiggles and the three other Zhu Zhu Pets have become the hit toy this Christmas season. But a report on Saturday from consumer group GoodGuide raised concerns about high levels of antimony in the toy, leading to fears of a recall. As it turned out, GoodGuide used a different methodology than federal standards called for. On Monday, the consumer group issued a correction and said it regretted its error.

If the brouhaha caused a slowdown in sales, it wasn't evident online. All four toys were still out of stock on the websites of big Zhu Zhu retailers Toys R Us and Wal-Mart. And retailers on eBay were still selling the $10 toys at four times (or more) of that price.